


Human

by TwoCrows



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Alternate Universe - Military, Angst, Blood, F/F, Graphic Depictions of Battlefields, Psychological Trauma, graphic depictions of death, identity crisis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-10-19 06:53:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17596538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwoCrows/pseuds/TwoCrows
Summary: They were quite different when they first met. But their time on the battlefield had changed both of them. Now they were so close, and yet infinitely far away.





	Human

Rin didn’t think.

She was never able to when the rattle of gunfire filled her entire world. Like a robot she waited quietly for her orders, to move out into the turmoil of flying bullets and wild shouting.

She felt Yuzu shifting next to her.

They had met in the boot camp and ended up in the same squadron. “It’s fate.” That’s what Yuzu had said when they were allocated.

But that was before they had seen the first battlefield. The bloodied corpses of former comrades and enemies alike, only distinguished by the colour of the uniform… The cramped sickbays, full with maimed men and women, some of them more dead than alive…

The life as a soldier had changed them.

Rin had grown cold and hard and she wasn’t able to recognise the smiling child on old photos that was supposed to be her. She had seen too many battlefields, killed too many people.

She didn’t feel regret.

Sometimes she wasn’t sure if she felt anything at all.

She had read a book once about a time where robots were used in combat instead of human soldiers and she wasn’t sure if she wasn’t one of these robots already.

Somewhere behind her she heard the boom of an exploding shell and Yuzu started in fright.

Rin looked at her, tightly clutching her weapon. She placed a hand on top of hers, felt the tremble of her friend’s body.

Although… Yuzu wasn’t just a friend.

Rin didn’t remember anymore how it had happened. She didn’t know what Yuzu had seen in her, but over time she had become her lover, her mental support. Rin was always there to soothe her after they returned from their missions. She held her gently and stroked over her head until her inner terror ceased, although she didn’t really know why she was doing this.

Yuzu hadn’t grown hard as she had. She still was troubled by the thought of killing. Rin had no idea why she had come to the army. It certainly wasn’t the right place for her. She’d rather become an office worker or something like that. Something peaceful.

“Are you alright?” she asked and tried to put up a smile.

Immediately she wanted to scold herself for the question. It was obvious that Yuzu wasn’t alright.

“Yes, I’m fine”, Yuzu answered, although her voice was still shaky.

She looked down at the barrel of her rifle.

“Say, Rin… How can you do this?” She glanced at her and Rin noticed a tear in her eyes. “How can you go out there when you know that you might not come back alive?”

“I don’t think about what might happen”, Rin answered after a moment.

The silence grew, only interrupted by the noise of gunfire and bawled orders in the background. A shell struck somewhere close to them and made the plaster fall off from the ceiling.

Suddenly Rin’s headset cracked and a voice bellowed: “Squad four, move forward to position echo three!”

Rin and the rest of her squad jumped to their feet and ran out into the storm.

The next hour was a hellish sequence of slaughter. Rin perceived her surroundings through a blur. She ran across the rocky terrain, jumped over barricades, fired at everything that moved and didn’t belong to them. The shots and explosions rang in her ears, drowning the screams of the people she riddled with bullets.

She sensed two of her comrades fall beside her, but she didn’t stop to check if they were still alive, instead returning the fire. Stopping in the middle of a battle meant dying. It meant realising what was happening around you. If you wanted to survive, you had to keep going.

“Squad four, close up to squad nine. Give them covering fire”, the voice in the headset ordered.

“Understood”, Rin responded and gave the others a sign.

Crouched, they ran across short, open terrain. Rin heard gunfire to the left and turned without slowing down, firing a few unaimed shots. The enemies took shelter behind a column and they passed the area.

Suddenly Rin noticed something small fly through the air and clatter on the ground before her. She had barely time to recognise the round shape of a grenade before it exploded.

She let out a sharp breath as pain flashed through her shoulder and her left thigh. Unable to stand, she slumped against a crumbled part of a wall and took a look at the red stain that spread on her leg. She could see a shard of metal sticking out of the wound.

So it was a frag, she thought to herself. Nevertheless she couldn’t stop here. She had to make it to the sickbay.

She tried to move her leg, but the pain brought tears to her eyes.

She swore.

Was this it? Was she going to die now? Did she have to lie here, waiting for someone to come and finish her off?

How humiliating!

“Rin!”

Rin looked up, saw a soldier running towards her. The soldier bent over her and a bang of pink hair slid down beneath their helmet.

“Yuzu?” she muttered weakly.

“You are hurt! Don’t worry. I’ll get you out of here.”

Rin tried to protest, but Yuzu had already grabbed her and lifted her up. Rin had no idea how she was able to carry her with the heavy combat gear, but somehow she did. Slowly the noise of the battle grew quieter behind them.

She noticed Yuzu’s strained breath, felt her own heart thumping in her chest. Her vision started to grow hazy which wasn’t a good sign, she thought.

“Let me down”, she demanded, although her voice wasn’t much more than a whisper. “I’m not going to make it, Yuzu. Let me down and go alone.”

“No way, Rin”, Yuzu answered, her voice firm with conviction. “I’m going to bring you to the sickbay. Please hold out.”

“Yuzu, you…”

Rin stopped when she looked at Yuzu’s face. Her friend was smiling at her.

Even now…

For the first time, Rin felt a crack in her stony façade and something warm poured into her.

And then the world froze.

Rin felt it more than she saw it, piercing through her gear and scratching the skin underneath, followed by something warm that splattered against her.

She watched surprise creeping over Yuzu’s face, slow as treacle. Her body shivered from the impact and then they came crashing down, Yuzu burying her beneath her.

Rin was unable to move, staring at Yuzu’s face that was only inches apart, saw the colour flowing out of her, felt her gear growing wet with the warm liquid that spread from Yuzu’s chest.

Her friend’s lips moved.

“I’m sorry”, Yuzu whispered and tried to smile, but she froze half way before her body slackened.

Rin couldn’t breathe for a moment.

She raised her hand to cup Yuzu’s face, felt the warmth of her cheek against her fingers, denying what had just happened.

Yuzu didn’t move anymore. Her blood was streaming out of her, bathing Rin in a puddle of crimson.

“Yuzu?” she asked, her voice high-pitched with terror. “Yuzu, can you hear me? Say something!”

Her arms went around her friend’s back and Rin buried her head in her shoulder as her body began to shake. For the first time in years she felt tears running over her cheeks.

The friend she had mocked in the boot camp for her bad athletic skills… The friend who had always greeted her with a bright smile, no matter how grumpy and sleepy she was in the morning… The friend who had spent the most intimate hours with her, a secret they kept from everybody else…

She was gone now, lying lifelessly in her arms.

“Yuzu”, she whispered, leaning her head against hers.

Slowly, Rin sat up and noticed the dark figure, barely visible on the hilltop. She saw the muzzle of the gun, aiming right at her, and nodded.

Her heart grew light as she sensed the bullet racing towards her and then the world turned black. 


End file.
